


Written Law and Unsaid Things

by whereismygarden



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Aliens Made Them Do It, Awkward Sexual Situations, F/M, Porn With Plot, possibly more plot than porn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-09
Updated: 2014-08-09
Packaged: 2018-02-12 09:59:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2105466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whereismygarden/pseuds/whereismygarden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Carter, have we been arrested for being single?”<br/>“It seems like it, sir. Hopefully Daniel can talk us out of this one.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Written Law and Unsaid Things

**Author's Note:**

> Set nebulously during season 3. I really don't have any excuse for that title.

                The inhabitants of P4X-487 are not human, with skin that shades into scales and sharp canines that extend past their lips. They are mostly humanoid, though, with robes that they have seen the like of many times. Sam is currently getting a good view of the robes, as they’ve all been forced to kneel to the high priest—as usual, Teal’c and the colonel had to be kicked down. The latter is grumbling as the priest’s lector—speaker, Daniel had said, though that one was redundant for her at least—condemns them for trespassing, heresy, and other crimes that aren’t words she recognizes.

                “I think we’re suffering from a misunderstanding,” Daniel says, spreading his heads and addressing the priest. “We are travelers, and we don’t know your customs. Any violation was committed in ignorance.” Sam glances up at the priest, who tilts his head to the side for a moment, then makes a series of hand gestures at the lector. She can’t resist a look at Daniel, who looks very excited by that detail. The lector stamps his ornate wooden staff on the floor once before speaking.

                “You say you are travelers, but you come with weapons. You have no symbols of thalahym, yet you are a mixed group.” Colonel O’Neill cuts across the lector.

                “Sorry, no symbols of what?” The lector, who reminds Sam of several low-level bureaucrats she knows, looks extremely irritated at the interruption.

                “It is not permitted for men and women to travel together without confirmation of union!” he snaps. Daniel half-raises his hand as Sam grinds her teeth a little.

                “Could you clarify what you mean? In our culture, men and women work and travel together.” He looks as though he means to continue, but the lector cuts him off; the high priest has already signed at him again.

                “I see. Will you not display your symbols of union, that we may confirm your honor?” Sam looks over at Teal’c, wishing she could stand, but he looks bemused. Not a tradition he knows, then.

                “You mean, of marriage? Matrimony?” He spits out a slew of words in various languages, and the lector nods eagerly at one of them. Daniel raises his left hand. “I am in fact married, if that is what you are asking. One of our symbols, on Earth, is to wear a ring like this one.” The ring is something Daniel’s started wearing since he came back to Earth: a reminder to himself, Sam thinks, of what he’s lost and looks for.

                “I also have a wife,” Teal’c adds. “The Jaffa wear no symbols.” The lector looks at her and the colonel.

                “Yeah, not me,” Colonel O’Neill says lazily, face impassive.

                “I’m not married either, that’s why we don’t have rings,” Sam says, hoping to settle this. The high priest shifts on his throne and signs again. The lector stamps his staff twice and nods to the soldiers who are behind them. Hands grip her arms and drag her upright, though she’s hardly fighting not being on her knees on the stone floor. The colonel’s being similarly manhandled, though Daniel and Teal’c are being allowed to stand alone.

                “Take the criminals to the cells!” the lector orders.

                “What?” O’Neill says incredulously. “Daniel, what--?” He shakes himself. “I can walk, thanks.” The soldiers holding him don’t alter their positions.

                “Ah, criminals?” Daniel says, hands coming together and face settling into his diplomat’s pose.

                “Major Carter and Colonel O’Neill are respected leaders, not criminals,” Teal’c says forbiddingly.

                “Thank you, Teal’c,” the colonel cuts in.

                “For what are we being arrested, exactly?” Sam addresses the lector, but he doesn’t deign to respond. Instead, the soldiers holding them march them out of the hall, and to another building, where, as promised, there are cells. There are windows and benches, though, so really a higher class of cell than they are used to.

                “Great,” O’Neill says. “Carter, have we been arrested for being single?” She leans against the wall of her cell. He’s across the hallway from her, and is leaning impatiently against the bars of the door, arms hooked through.

                “It seems like it, sir,” she replies. “Hopefully Daniel can talk us out of this one.”

                “I hope that way too often,” he says grimly, but settles back into the cell, and they await Daniel in silence. It’s really almost pleasant: warm, and not too dirty, and she’s half asleep by the time Daniel and Teal’c come down the hallway.

                “All right, what’s the good news?” the colonel demands. Daniel doesn’t look especially happy. “Come to bail us out of singles jail?”

                “Ah, not exactly. Believe it or not, this is kind of a serious crime.”

                “What?” Sam exclaims. Daniel waves his arms, shutting off their complaints.

                “Their culture—which is extremely monolithic and really, their law—demands that everyone be married upon reaching adulthood. For them, that’s the age of sixteen. I spoke at length with the high priest, and it seems to originate from a long-lasting issue with fertility—“

                “Daniel, what’s the point?” O’Neill interrupts, just as Carter realizes something about their biology.

                “Daniel, that actually makes sense,” she interjects. “This planet is pleasantly warm to us, but they’re somewhat reptilian, and for them to bear viable offspring would be dependent on climatic heat.”

                “There is no opportunity for them to make insulated nests, since they are humanoid,” Teal’c finishes, catching her train of thought.

                “Exactly,” she says. Daniel looks like he’s followed most of it; the colonel looks annoyed.

                “Again, the point?”

                “Well, the only viable way to increase their population is to have frequent sexual congress,” Daniel says. “So, it’s more or less written into their law. They’re strictly monogamous, and each couple receives a pair of these devices.” He produces two purple metallic strips, slightly curved. “They’re affixed to the temple, and—well, seem to record sexual activity by releasing some sort of dye. It leaves behind a pattern, the thalahym, which lasts about a week.”

                “So if you’re not doing it at least once a week to further the race, you get locked in jail?” The colonel throws his hands up.

                “What does this have to do with us?”

                “This practice is so ancient that these people have forgotten its origin. It is a matter of morality to them, now.” Teal’c follows his statement with a raised eyebrow, as though he can’t quite believe it either.

                “But you did get them to spring us, right? Any second now some of those toga’ed soldiers are gonna unlock these doors, right?” Daniel looks extremely uncomfortable.

                “Well, they’ll only let you go if you can restore your honor.”

                “Daniel,” O’Neill says warningly. Sam doesn’t like the flat, displeased look on Teal’c face.

                “If you two engage in the duties of a married couple, they will accept that you aren’t deviants and let us all go.” The colonel’s face is so shocked it would be funny, except Sam is certain hers looks the same.

                “And if we _don’t?”_ Daniel leans to the side.

                “They’re going to execute you.”

                “Execute us?” Sam manages. She’s stayed quiet through all of this, because Daniel is always insisting that they not insult other people’s beliefs, and the colonel usually causes enough trouble that way. “How is that productive?”

                “Well, presumably anyone who won’t reproduce is out of the gene pool anyway, so they might as well make an example.” Daniel gives her a sympathetic look. Sam nods shortly.

                “Great,” she snaps. She’s reluctant to look at the colonel.

                “Can you guys…go, for a second?” Daniel and Teal’c walk back the way they came. Sam hears O’Neill sigh from the other side of the hallway. “What are your thoughts on this, Carter?”

                “Philosophically, or practically?” she says, slumping down onto the bench.

                “Practically,” he deadpans, and she looks over to see that he’s looking at the corner of his cell, though he is turned towards her.

                “Practically, it’s not the worst thing either of us has been asked to do,” she says, because she wants to live.

                “I’ll agree with you there.” He glares at the floor for a little longer. “Want to get hitched?” She laughs a little, for lack of anything better to do.

                “Apparently, it’s happened before.”

                “Alternate universe us would be so proud.” O’Neill shakes the door of the cell. “Daniel! Teal’c!” They come back swiftly. The colonel looks at her, finally makes eye contact. He wants her to say it. Fair enough: there shouldn’t be any ambiguity.

                “We’ll do it,” she says, keeping her voice as level as possible. Teal’c inclines his head and Daniel raises his eyebrows.

                “I’ll let them know,” he says, and leaves. Teal’c looks questioningly at them. O’Neill flaps his hand.

                “It’s better than dying,” he says, and really, that’s all that needs to be said.

~

                Daniel watches the lector place two matching devices on Sam and Jack’s temples, then lead them away to another building in the town. Teal’c stands next to him, looking very angry.

                “This is not a just way to deal with us,” he says.

                “No, it’s not,” Daniel agrees. “But at least Sam and Jack are friends.”

                “Precisely,” Teal’c says. His fingers twitch, as though he wishes he had his staff weapon in hand. Daniel wouldn’t even mind having to shoot their way out, just this once. They had both walked off looking supremely disinterested and abashed at once, but from a distance, watching their backs, they looked troubled.

                “Maybe we need a backup plan,” he concedes.

~

                Jack doesn’t know what to say about the ornate room they’ve been effectively locked into. There are colorful, tightly woven rugs on the wooden floor that would probably mean something to Daniel. There is a table with fresh fruit and a pitcher of something red. There is, unavoidably, a very wide bed in the center of the room. His eyes keep wandering away from it.

                “Well,” he says. “Hungry?”

                “No, sir,” Carter says, a forced smile in her voice. He closes his eyes and puts his hands up.

                “Carter, you cannot call me sir if we’re going to do this. It’s too weird.”

                “Okay sir, it’s just—“ she sighs. “Not an easy habit to break.”

                “Right.” He makes himself look over at her. “You think we can maybe fake these things out?” He touches the device on his temple. At least it didn’t hurt going on.

                “I doubt it, sir. They’ve had centuries to perfect them.” He sighs.

                “Of course.” He shifts on his feet, and doesn’t want to be the first to do—anything. “I’m sorry, Carter,” he says, because he is. It’s not that Carter isn’t an attractive woman, because she is, but this is the type of thing that could destroy their relationship in the field. And maybe their lives are worth that, maybe.

                “Yeah, it’s fine, sir.” She sits down on the floor, back to the wall, and starts taking her boots off. “It’s not your fault, you don’t need to apologize.” She glances over at him, her bright eyes appraising him sadly for a moment. “I mean, at least when this kind of thing happens to me, it’s you, not Hathor.”

                He grimaces at the mention.

                “Daniel certainly got the worst of that,” he says, and wants to change the subject, because it’s hardly putting him in the mood. He takes his own boots off, and glances away as Carter sheds her jacket. He’s seen her a hundred times in her black t-shirt, but this feels different.

                “You’re going to have to look at me at some point, colonel," she says dryly.

                “I know,” he agrees, still not looking. Carter stands up, folding her arms.

                “Just think about that time we all got sick with that parasite that made us regress into pre- _homo sapiens_ and I grabbed you in the locker room.” He raises his eyebrows.

                “That was very strange,” he says, rubbing his chin. Might as well get it over with. He takes off his jacket and throws it on the ground. He feels like a teenager, standing here in his socks, and he takes those off too. Carter grabs his arms, and he meets her eyes, which are intent and a little frightened.

                “I cannot do all the work here, colonel. You have to meet me halfway.” He nods, mentally kicking himself.

                “Right,” he says, and awkwardly places his hands on her hips. “Shall we do this traditionally?”

                “Um,” Carter says. “What do you mean by that, sir?”

                “I mean kissing, Carter,” he sighs. “Also, stop saying sir, _please_.”

                “Yes, that sounds fine,” she says, and he inclines his head down as she turns her face upward.

                They try just a quick brush first, nothing intense. Carter meets his eyes and twitches her lips in a brief smile. Right. He kisses her properly, lingering on her mouth, and she tugs his bottom lip into her mouth. It would probably be arousing if he wasn’t so conflicted about being aroused right now. Then Carter’s hands slide up his back to his shoulders, curling around them, and she bites his jaw a little as she pulls out of the kiss, and it _is_ arousing, one hundred percent. He chases her mouth with his, sliding his tongue inside and reaching one hand up to cradle the back of his head. This is okay, this is good, this eager exchange of kisses.

                “This seems to be working,” Carter says, a touch breathlessly, as they pull apart.

                “Yeah,” he agrees.

                “Bed?” she asks. That makes things abruptly real and pressing again, but he nods anyway, then leans down to kiss her again. They sort of progress slowly towards the bed, as though neither of them wants to think about it. When they’re standing next to it, Carter lets go of him and undoes her BDUs, which leaves him no choice but to do the same, because he’ll be damned if he lets her feel uncomfortable without returning the favor.

                He tries not to look at her legs as she kicks the pants off, but her underwear are the same practical black as her t-shirt.

                “You can look,” she says, voice amused and matter-of-fact.

                “Just trying not to impose,” he says, and she snorts. “But if you insist…” She’s looking him up and down, when he turns his eyes back her way, and the appraising look in her eyes is more of a turn on than anything else has been so far. He leans down to kiss her again, traveling down her neck, and feels a bit of pride when her breathing gets fast and heavy. He can’t really stop his hands from sliding up and down her sides to her hips and thighs. There’s a great deal of soft skin under his hands, which is making it hard for him to focus. He leans forward, turning them, and makes to lie them down on the bed.

                This causes a little bit of a struggle: Carter immediately slides out from under him, kicking a few bed coverings to the side. Okay, that’s fine, she doesn’t like that. They’ll face each other. He’s touching her legs, but it’s still a jolt when her hand comes up to grab his thigh. He can feel himself finally getting hard at that, and a little groan escapes his throat. Carter lifts her head up from where she was occupied biting his throat.

                “Colonel?”

                “I’m fine,” he manages. “Just, you know, it’s been a while.” He tries to gesture casually, but a horrible sinking feeling hits him. He’s going to be a real disappointment to Carter. It’s bad enough to have to have sex to avoid execution, but it’s going to be bad sex as well.

                “All right,” she says, giving him a look as though she doesn’t see how that’s relevant, and grabs at the back of his shirt, clearly encouraging him to take it off. He complies, and hisses as she runs her hands down his chest and stomach, face intent and unreadable. Well, turnabout is fair play, and he runs his fingers up under her shirt, along her spine, and her whole body trembles. He pulls her shirt off slowly, and is beginning to think this will actually turn out maybe okay, when she freezes up and goes stiff.

                “You good, Carter?” He moves back from her a little. Her eyes meet his, worried.

                “Birth control, colonel.”

                “I figured I would just, you know, pull out,” he says, because he’s actually got that part figured out.

                “Colonel, these devices are made to encourage reproductive sex. I don’t know if we can risk it.”

                “How would they know?” There had better not be any cameras in this room.

                “If they’re monitoring our sympathetic nervous systems, which I think they are, they will.” He closes his eyes.

                “How about we tell them I was too freaked out to get it up?” he suggests at last. It actually might become a true statement soon enough. For her part, Carter just bursts out laughing, and he sniggers as well.

                By the time they’ve collected themselves, a good amount of the tension has dissipated. Carter has her determined face on.

                “I’ll work it out when we get back to the SGC,” she says, sounding assured, and pushes him forcefully onto his back, immediately curing all his potential erection problems. “Is this okay?” He nods.

                “It’s more than okay,” he agrees, and Carter straddles him, so his erection is pressing against her bare stomach through his boxers. He can feel the heat of her against his balls, and it feels so good that he can barely hold himself still. He half sits up, grabbing her by the shoulders and sliding his hands hungrily down her back. For her part, she leans down to lay a line of bites down his chest, and he groans again as her fingers ghost over his sides. He really wants to pull her bra off, but she doesn’t seem inclined to take it off, so he puts his hands on her hips again, pressing her against him.

                She hisses, hooking her fingers into the waist of his boxers.

                “Colonel—“

                “Say Jack, for this,” he requests, and tugs her underwear down. She does the same with his boxers, lifting off of him a little.

                “Jack,” she corrects. “It’s been a while for me, too.” He nods, and reaches up to kiss her one more time, to reassure her, lets his hands slide up her thighs, brushes one between. She’s hot, and damp, and he makes a quiet noise, but she’s not as ready as he needs, if this is going to be painless, and it has to be, or he won’t live with himself. He pauses, and she senses it. “I’m sorry,” she says. “It takes me a while. There’s got to be something we can use as—“

                “Carter,” he interrupts. “It’s fine.” Close proximity to nearly naked Carter has him—would have any man—ready to go, but there’s no reason for it to go the other way. They’re not touching: she’s just on her hands and knees over him, looking worried, if a lot more flushed than usual. Before enough time passes that he’ll lose his nerve, he sticks the first two fingers of his right hand in his mouth and coats them with saliva. Carter bites her lip, which is pretty sexy, and gives him a quick nod.

                He should make a joke; he always makes a joke when things are unbearably tense, but he’s sliding his slicked fingers between Carter’s legs, going for gentle and relaxing and arousing, and the heat of her is short-circuiting the part of his brain that talks. Carter shifts, grabs his wrist, and adjusts his hand, pressing his fingers harder against her.

                “Right,” he gasps, and lets her guide his hand, watching her face twist and tighten as his fingers get wet with her juices. God, if he thought he was hard before—his entire lower torso feels like it’s on fire as he watches Carter grip his hand and direct it where she wants.

                She lets go of him with a gasp, mouth open and eyes half-closed, then looks down at him. He tries for a disarming smile, but his hunger must be showing on his face. Carter looks like she’s trying to focus.

                “Ready?” she asks, breathless but somehow brisk, and he nods, trying to remember how to make words.

                “Oh yeah,” he manages, soaked hand coming up to grip his cock and rub it a few times, so he doesn’t completely lose it in the first minute. His eyelids flutter against his will as she positions herself, the tip of his cock rubbing against her entrance. “ _Jesus_ , Carter,” he groans, and grips the bedding with both hands.

                “I have a name too,” she pants, and he nods, waggles his head to the side a little, to say _that’s fair._ “Is this okay, me on top? I just prefer—“

                “It’s more than okay. “ Understatement. “Sam.” He takes in a heaving breath, because she’s still holding his cock in her fist, and he’s touching her, but he’s not inside her. “Are you gonna--?” She starts, like she’s forgotten, and nods, and then slides him into her so quickly and smoothly all he can do is let out a low moan as it happens. He grits his teeth together lest he start babbling nonsense and obscenity, watches her blink slowly and exhale.

                She rocks her hips slightly against his, and that sends a jolt of heat right through him, and he half sits up, thrusting back. Carter’s face takes on a familiar expression: the one when she’s facing a challenge. He raises an eyebrow, and half of her mouth curls up into the smile she gets when he’s doing something outrageously against protocol that’s somehow working despite expectation. They both shift slightly, and he grabs her by the hips just as she goes for his upper arms.

                He would laugh as she knocks him back down, except it’s the hottest thing that’s ever happened to him. Carter’s half-pinning him down, and it’s kind of easy, right in this moment, to set a rhythm of movement that’s half scared gentleness and half wrestling.

                Eye contact is still terrifying and apt to turn awkward, so he alternates closing his eyes and kissing her as they move in tandem. The kissing is messy, because they’re moving, but still good.

                The heat is his lower body had equalized, but now it’s coiling and tightening around him again, and he’s still trying to be careful, but he can feel his thrusts getting more forceful as something tightens at the base of his spine. One of Carter’s hands leaves his arm and though his vision is mostly occupied with his eyelids as he tries to hold on, he spares a glance to see her rubbing between her legs as she rides him. This does not help matters.

                “Sam, I can’t—“

                The high, soft cry Carter makes just as he feels her convulse around him completely undoes him, and his orgasm rips through him like a whip-strike.

                He comes back to himself with Carter braced over him, both of them breathing hard, and the sensation of something warm on his forehead. The metal strip on his temple fall off, as does Carter’s, and hers hits him in the face. He flicks it away, and lifts her hair out of the way. There’s a swirly purple symbol on her temple.

                “I’ve got one, right?” he asks, and tilts his head to the side.

                “Yes, sir,” she confirms, and moves so his softening erection slides out of her. She slumps down on the bed next to him, though, instead of getting up at once. He’s not really sure he can move.

                “Well,” he says. “I hope you still respect me in the morning.” She exhales forcefully next to him, which is sort of a laugh.

                The door to the room crashes open without any sort of warning. Carter shouts and they both bolt upright, grabbing for weapons that are clearly not in the bed or on their persons.

                It’s Daniel and Teal’c, brandishing guns and holding their confiscated packs.

                “What the hell?” he yells. They’re both frozen in the door.

                “We’re…here to…rescue you,” Daniel falters.

~

                “So, now we have no chance of peaceful relations!” Major Carter says, annoyed, as she pulls on her pack.

                “Well, yeah,” Daniel Jackson says, sounding abashed.

                “Great,” Colonel O’Neill is still tying his boots.

                “We assumed you would stall, and await rescue,” Teal’c says. “We would never allow you to be forced into this.” Tauri culture is both more and less strict about sexual behavior than that of the Jaffa, in ways that make little sense to Teal’c, as an outsider. Still, there can be no doubt that forcing anyone into intercourse is insufferable.

                “You couldn’t have managed a wink or literally anything? Any clue?” Colonel O’Neill unholsters his gun and leads the way out of the room.

                “Sorry,” Daniel Jackson says, as they break into a run down the hallway, ready for a sprint out of town and to the stargate.

                “We did not think you would be able to go through with having intercourse against your will,” Teal’c says.

                “Okay, okay!” Carter and O’Neill say at the same time. Major Carter continues. “We agreed, it was something we were willing to do to avoid—well, what’s about to happen now.”

                “There wasn’t anything happening against anyone’s will,” Colonel O’Neill continues, voice on the verge of angry.

                They all start running again, and Teal’c is the only one who sees Daniel Jackson raise his eyebrows and mutter,

                “Well, _clearly_.”

**Author's Note:**

> At the time of posting, I the writer am still in the process of watching the show, and am in the middle of season 3, so if you leave a comment, please don't make comparisons to things that happen on the show after that. Thanks so much, I hope you enjoyed this. I just really wanted them to have awkward sex.


End file.
